This invention relates to rotary engines and, more particularly, to seals employed in rotary engines.
The most pertinent prior art known to the applicant includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,180,564.
While the operating principles of various types of rotary engines, such as the so-called "Wankel" engine have long been known, it has only been within the last few years that such engines have been made commercially available. Even with the commercial availability of such engines from certain manufacturers, other manufacturers apparently remain unsatisfied that various problems with the operation of such engines have been completely overcome so as to allow their being offered commercially.
Perhaps one of the more vexing problems in rotary engines is the maintenance of seals between the rotor and the housing walls. There are two general areas of difficulty in the seals employed. A first is that of providing a long-lived seal that will not require frequent replacement to the point where use of the engine is commercially unfeasible. A second is the provision of a seal that will effectively provide a seal during operaton of the engine throughout a wide range of internal temperature conditions.
While various proposals for seal constructions have been made to overcome such difficulties, the problems still have not been solved to the satisfaction of even the majority of engine builders.